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JEWISH AFFAIRS Chanukah 2015
his mind when he gave Gwen her name? And
later, when he called her by this name? What
was the cause of the deadly silence that had
encompassed her up to that point and of which
she had been made an ignorant part?
Gwen felt an urgency to make contact with
her deceased namesake, buried in this little
grave 73 years previously. First, she consulted
an archaeologist on the rules of opening a grave.
Then she obtained permission from the authorities
to re-commemorate this grave. She reflected on
the ease with which it was possible: “One can
now exhume human remains with very little
motivation. In my case no one questioned the
right to do this on ethical or religious grounds”. 11
After this, capturing each step
photographically, she opened the grave, assisted
by an archaeologist and local grave diggers. She
noted down each part of the infant Gwendoline
as proof of the existence of her life on earth.
With a collection of gifts and a shroud placed in
the newly exposed grave she rendered homage
to the infant. After a ceremony, the grave was
gently closed again. It was meaningful for Gwen
that the African assistants had accepted and
understood this as an act of paying respect to
her ancestor. With this ritual act, the artist felt
that she had come full circle within the personal
narrative leading to her roots. She could now
recognise herself as a conduit between past and
future generations. Gwen recorded a subsequent
conversation with her father, who expressed his
satisfaction with her act of unearthing a family
secret which he could never forget.
With this, the artist has created her personal
family album, which she divided into six chapters,
or ‘Lists’:
1. List for forgetting; 2. List for the genealogy
of the fathers; 3. List for not knowing; 4. List
for finding the form; 5. List for exhumation;
6. List for restoration.
In this performance, the artist invites the
viewer to follow her in her memory work, of
things not spoken about, artefacts of family
taboos, silence and death, secrets and lies,
suppression of undesirable memory and, finally,
creating a new fiction based on new facts that
have come to light through this happening.
The Curiosity Cabinet
As part of a solo exhibition entitled
“Hand Work” which took place in 2000 in
the Art on Paper Gallery, Johannesburg, in
2002 in Durban’s NSA Gallery and then in
the Olievenhuis Gallery, Bloemfontein, Gwen
displayed a cabinet of curiosities which had
formed part of her life as a woman and mother.
Behind its glass panels were displayed baby
bottles, booties, porcelain shards and other
artefacts, some of them difficult to make
out because they were so personal (“Women
don’t only collect objects but also secrets and
lies …”). 12 She was portraying different levels
of reality in which the concept of time became
an underlying driving force.
Gwen has curated and co-curated a number
of exhibitions, which became a hallmark of her
philosophical insights and political thinking.
In these, Derrida’s influence and his concepts
materialized. Her aim was to transform the
South African present as deconstructed from
the burden of the past. Cultural and historical
facets were examined from different angles and
juxtaposed with corresponding artefacts to form
new interpretations.
Walking the book
This exhibition (co-ordinated by Lianda
Martin ) was a literacy project, entitled Masifunde
Sonke (“Let us all read together”), conceived
for the National Library of South Africa in
2001. The challenge was to place the culture
of reading in South Africa into the context of
past, present and future. In her unique display
of books, combined aesthetically with visual
material, she identified with the millions of
South African children who were illiterate due
to lack of formal education. She received warm
accolades for the richness of content and the
beauty of her display. 13
A Shade of Grey
List of Forgetting. 1999. Pastel and ink on
cotton paper. 35x50cm
In 2002, Gwen designed, curated and
installed the book collection of medieval and
Renaissance manuscripts and rare books that had
been presented by Sir George Grey, Governor
of the Cape Colony from 1854 to 1961, to the
National Library of South Africa before his
return to England. The exhibition was entitled
A Shade of Grey. In her notable display of
these books, she skilfully connected the spirit
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